Dyson releases cordless vacuum cleaner ‘capable of capturing virus particles’

British tech company says Gen5detect can project light to illuminate dust particles otherwise invisible to the naked eye

Dyson says the Gen5detect is its most powerful cordless vacuum yet and has been engineered to capture 99.99 per cent of particles. Photo: Dyson

British technology company Dyson has unveiled a cordless vacuum cleaner that it says is powerful enough to pick up virus particles around the home.

The company says the Gen5detect is its most powerful cordless vacuum yet and has been engineered to capture 99.99 per cent of particles.

The device includes filtration technology that fully seals the machine to keep in any captured particles, Dyson said.

The company’s own research found that 95 per cent of people say they are cleaning their homes just as much, if not more, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Gen5detect has a special cleaner head that projects a blade of light across the floor to illuminate dust particles otherwise invisible to the naked eye, which Dyson says can help users to clean more precisely.

Sir James Dyson, the company’s founder and chief engineer, said the Gen5detect defined the company’s “next generation of cleaning technology” and offered “our deepest ever clean”.

A digital display shows the dust analysis. Photo: Dyson

Charlie Park, vice president of floor care, said: “The best filter cannot provide clean air if there is an opportunity for dirty air to leak out of the machine ― so our engineers worked hard to ensure that all our Dyson vacuums have whole-machine filtration.

“In our Gen5detect vacuum, we went a step further with Hepa [high-efficiency particulate absorbing] filtration to ensure that even virus particles as small as 0.1 microns remain trapped in the machine.”

Dyson has not confirmed a price or release date for the new cleaner in Europe and the US. However, it has already been released in South Korea where it retails at 1.39 million won ($974).